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Sales Mapping

The difference between losers and winners.. .is mastering effective communications. Sales Mapping uses the best information known to a few in teaching the skills that will create long-lasting relationships.

Sales Mapping with R5

R5 represents Rapport, Record, Release, Replace and Remember. The skills needed to influence, persuade and motivate people are found in each part!

Following are the skills contained in the R5 communication model:

Rl Rapport

Rapport is core to having and maintaining meaningful communications, because it helps to establish . . . Trust! Without trust, you will face enormous difficulties in your relationships.

Many sales models and books talk about the importance of rapport, but information is missing on “How to get into rapport” and “How to know when you have it.” There are 10 ways to get into rapport with Sales Mapping. Most people are aware of only one or two.

R2 Record

Listening is just like pushing record on a tape recorder. It is not about talking. It is about capturing the most important non-verbal and verbal patterns and information. These patterns reveal a person’s motivational preferences, how they like to receive information, their criteria of what is important, and how they make decisions. The key is asking the right questions.

R3 Release

People want to tell you the problem but, too often, you get the answer not the problem. Worse yet, too many sales­people want to present a solution, when they do not know what problem the client is having or the results they expect. I asked a prospect: “What problem are you having?” He replied, “We need new software.” That’s the answer, not the problem. I was asked to speak to a group of salespeople and I asked, “What is the problem?” The reply was, “We need to motivate our staff to get more sales.”

That is the answer, not the problem. You get one question to ask that gets to the problem… every time!

R4 Replace

“What is the point of selling a solution when you do not know what problem you are solving?” In “Release” we have the problem and in “Replace” we are providing a solution, which, by definition, is an answer.

R5 Remember

Customer Relationship Systems track: “What a customer bought.” Sales Mapping tracks: “How People buy.” How do you get to a Best Practice? First, you have a process or procedure. It has to be followed, and then you can learn from what works and what doesn’t work, while making the process better and better.

Strategy and Tactics

Problem solving comes from understanding the client’s problem and the consequences from that problem. Only then can a solution be developed. A step-by-step system for doing this is contained in the Sales Mapping system. Once it is learned, you can develop your strategy and tactics.

Understanding strategy was best taught by Chinese military man, Sun Tzu, who wrote his book, Art of War, over 2,500 years ago. The information contained in the 13 short chapters is wisdom that does not ever go out of style. You can learn a great deal about flexibility, competition, leading and winning. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

The importance of understanding tactics, associated with successful strategy in modern times, can be found in Bottom-Up Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Tout. When it comes to marketing, you only need to “get” everything these two gurus have written. They make it very clear that tactics can drive an overall strategy.

Salespeople see strategy and tactics with blinders on. They do very little in the way of developing an approach and executing a plan that gets the client what they need, which in turns gets the salesperson what he wants. Clients see their problems as unique and so must you. Clients are really not interested in what you did for the other guy; they want to know what you are going to do for them.

Sales Mapping gives you four tactics to pick from and explains how to use each one.

What if you met your prospect’s boss, the final decision maker, in a chance meeting in the elevator and he asked you, “What are you going to do for us in solving our problem?” What would you say?Sales Mapping gives you a process to answer this question and, as a bonus, it will set you apart from your competition.

Sales Mapping gives you the steps for using strategy and tactics, It is a process that enables you to competitor-proof your bid.

Having an action plan

A sales project requires four basic elements: resources, time, money and, most importantly, scope. All these elements are interrelated. Each must be managed effectively. All must be managed together if the project and the project manager are to be a success.

Resources – People, equipment, material

Time – Task duration, dependencies, critical path

Money – Costs, contingencies, profit

Scope – Project size, goals, requirements

Where are we in the sale? What is our next step? Who is working on the proposal? What are the keys to winning? What are we delivering and when? What is our plan? These are just some of the questions salespeople are asked, and a few actually have a plan. No, I do not mean in their head, but one that is documented, distributed, followed and, most importantly, managed by them. The good news is that project management is well documented and standards do exist. What has been missing is a project management approach in sales.

A sales project management system for tracking, communicating and delivering the needs of your client.Letting the presentation get in the way of the message Salespeople devote tremendous amounts of time and energy in creating compelling presentations. The problem is, most of this is lost on prospects or clients. Presentations, if poorly planned, are largely a waste of time. Salespeople hate to hear this, as the presentation is the hammer in their sales toolbox. It is their security blanket, their comfort zone, and they do not want to give it up. Giving a lecture, even one that includes multimedia elements, is boring. The salesperson attempts to teach by telling. The big problem with this method is that hardly anyone remembers what they heard. How much do they remember – maybe half?

Salespeople follow the 80/20 rule.

Eighty-percent of talking about their company and its solutions and why they are the best fit. What’s missing is, “What’s in it for the customer?” “How will this solve their problem?” “Will they get the results they want?”

Your competitors are doing the exact same thing -giving the same kind of presentations and making the same arguments. Many salespeople lose it at the presentation. They miss the non-verbal signals. They do not put enough effort into it or do not have a plan. Salespeople see a presentation as a meeting without any preplanned actions. This is a waste of the client’s time and theirs. The skills involved should be the same as a professional speaker because, in sales, this is what you must be.

An effective presentation is built on these elements:

Planning … Content… Action … Rehearsing … Follow-up

These are the ingredients of success.

Planning and delivering a well-structured presentation at the right time, for the right reason, resulting in the right action being taken.